Workplace Claims
Injuries arising in the workplace call for specialist legal advice. After all the Defendant is likely to instruct a specialist solicitor to deal with the claim on their behalf and you therefore need to be on an equal footing from the very start.
Accidents at work occur at an alarming rate. The Health & Safety Executive have reported that in 2004/05 there were more than 30,000 serious work accidents in the UK resulting in major injuries and 220 accidents which resulted in a fatality. In addition over 2 million people are reported to be suffering from an illness which they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
If you wish to make a claim for compensation because you have had an accident at work or have developed an industrial disease then simply complete our Claim Form now or call us on 0800 823958.
If you have had an accident at work or developed an illness or disease then we can recover compensation for you if we can prove that this was someone else's fault. This might be your employer, a fellow employee or even another company working at your place of work. The compensation awarded to you will include damages for your injury and loss of earnings.
Our lawyers will give you the very best, specialist advice at absolutely no cost to you. Many of them have previously worked for some of the UK's largest trade unions, have taken cases to both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords and are hugely experienced in dealing with accidents and injuries caused at work.
Claims in the workplace fall into two broad categories:
Your employer is under a legal duty to ensure that you are safe while at work. If your employers fail to take reasonable care for your safety while you are at work and you suffer an injury then the Courts will find the employer to have been negligent. In addition a whole host of legislation exists to try and prevent accidents at work including:
- Workplace (Health Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
- Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
- Construction (Health Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1996.
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
- Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
- Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005.
- Work at Height Regulations 2005.
It is vital that your solicitors are fully familiar with all of this legislation so that your work accident case can be assessed accurately and the very best result achieved for you. By employing Howe & Co. to act for you in your work injury claim you can be sure that you have the benefit of the very best legal advice.
Examples of accidents at work which we have successfully pursued include:
- Injuries suffered as a result of lifting or moving heavy items.
- Injuries suffered in the construction industry and on building sites.
- Injuries caused by dangerous or defective machinery or the absence of guards or protective equipment.
- Trips or slips on wet and dangerous surfaces.
- Injuries caused because of an unsafe system of work or the negligence of a fellow employee.
- Injuries caused because of the use of unsuitable or unsafe lifting equipment.
You will find examples of work injury cases we have dealt with in Recent Cases.
If you have suffered injury through an accident at work compensation then please simply fill up our Claim Form or call us now on 0800 823958.
Useful points to remember:
- Make sure an entry is made in the Accident Book. Read the entry very carefully and do not sign it yourself unless it is completely accurate. If you are in pain or confused then get a colleague to check what has been written for you.
- If there is no Accident Book then make your own written record of what happened as soon as possible while the events are still fresh in your memory. Make sure you sign and date the document.
- Try and get the names and addresses of any witnesses.
- If you have had a serious accident then your employers are supposed to notify the Health & Safety Executive. If they do not do so then you should notify them yourself. You will find their details on our Useful Links page.
- If you have suffered injury then make sure you see a doctor so that your injury and how it happened is recorded.
Occupational Disease Claims are among the most difficult and demanding of personal injury cases, often involving complex scientific and medical issues.
We act in many types of occupational disease cases including:
- Deafness or tinnitus caused by excessive industrial noise.
- Asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos induced lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening plaques.
- Occupational asthma caused by exposure to such things as isocyantes, welding fumes, solvent vapours, chemical mists, flour, wood dust and other types of dust.
- Work related chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
- Dermatitis caused exposure to chemicals.
You will find examples of occupational disease claims we have recently dealt with in Recent Cases.
We act for clients the length and breadth of the country and are able to act for you no matter where you live. As always, there will be absolutely no charge to you.
If you feel that you may have a claim then contact us now. Either you can complete the online Claim Form or telephone us on 0800 823958.
At Howe & Co. we are particularly proud of our work involving industrial or occupational asthma which is sometimes also called "Restrictive Airways Disfunction Syndrome ("RADS").
Occupational Asthma is caused by exposure to a wide variety of substances including synates, welding fumes, platinum salts, glutaraldehyde, grain dusts and wood dusts. Workers particularly at risk include:
- Hospital and pharmaceutical industry workers.
- Welders and solderers.
- Spray painters.
- Carpenters and joiners.
- Paper mill and sawmill workers.
- Plastics industry workers.
Even if you do not work directly with a hazardous substance it is still possible to develop occupational asthma because of "secondary exposure".
Symptoms, which are usually irreversible, include breathlessness, pain and tightness of the chest as well as coughing and wheezing.
Symptoms of occupational asthma can develop within just a few days of being exposed to a hazardous substance or may take many years to develop. There are time limits for making a claim for compensation. Therefore as soon as you develop symptoms and suspect that these might in some way be caused by your work you should immediately instruct personal injury solicitors. Never delay in making a claim.
Your employers have a legal duty under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 to carry out a risk assessment to identify any hazardous substances you might be exposed to and to assess the risk caused by that exposure to your health. Wherever possible, the employers' primary obligation is to eliminate the risk altogether. Where that is not possible control measures must be introduced to reduce the exposure to the lowest level reasonably practicable. Only as a last resort should this take the form of personal protective equipment such as breathing apparatus.
If you feel that you may have a claim and want expert legal advice at absolutely no cost to you then contact us now by completing our Claim Form or calling us on 0500 823958.